Budget Strategies

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The goal of collection budget management is to align cost with value in order to provide access to the information resources needed by UCSB faculty, students, and staff in support of the wide range of disciplines across campus. With the rapidly rising costs of academic books, journals, databases, and other resources, and without added funding to cover these increases, the collection budget must be carefully targeted toward the most needed materials. The following strategies form the basis of budget management in order to meet this goal.

Participate in licenses for journal and ebook packages and that the California Digital Library (CDL) negotiates on behalf of the UC campuses when these are cost effective and provide resources that support UCSB curricula and research programs.

Review CDL-licensed resources in which we participate to ensure that they continue to serve the needs of UCSB faculty and students, and withdraw from those that are the least cost effective.

Purchase or subscribe to resources in only one format so that the library does not pay twice for the same content in print and electronic versions. Cancel print subscriptions to journals and newspapers that the library also subscribes to online, and purchase monographs in either print or ebook version, but not both. This strategy reflects a concern for maximizing both the collections budget and the library's limited shelf space.

For purchases of print books, prefer paperback over cloth binding to save costs.

For electronic resources with ongoing costs, monitor usage and cost per use to ensure that collections funds are spent on the most needed resources.

Rely on other UC campuses for access to in-depth collections in areas not emphasized at UCSB, to ensure that our collection funds are targeted toward supporting the unique strengths at UCSB.

Seek to develop alternative sources of funding for collections, such as endowment support and partnerships with departments and programs on campus.

Support transformative publishing models that will help develop an economically sustainable system of scholarly communication.

Participate in UC systemwide efforts to control the growth of license costs, ensure the greatest value for collection expenditures, and conserve funding for the most needed resources (for example, the 2012 Journal Evaluation Project)

Review for their continued relevance and usage locally subscribed journals whose annual subscription price increases by 15 percent or more.